LESSON PLAN REFLECTION

JMU Elementary Education Program

Candidates name: Emily

Smith-George

Date the activity was conducted at the school: Monday, December 2, 2013 Grade level: 4th Cooperating Teachers Name and Name of the school Mrs. Fitzgerald, Stump Elementary

As soon as possible following your activity, write your response to the following questions. Be thorough in your reflection and cite specific examples of the childrens language, involvement, reactions, exploration, and learning. Your reflection is due within two weeks of the completion of the activity at the school. TITLE/TYPE OF ACTIVITY

Exciting Ecosystems/ Poetry

A. Based on your plan for assessing learning and the data you collected, evaluate the success of the activity. Be thorough in your description. Cite multiple examples of student behavior and language that document your conclusions.

In retrospect, the assessment piece of this lesson worked well. While students filled out the brainstorming sheets I was able to circulate the room asking questions and listening to the students as they discussed. I was able to take notes of the students who were easily producing words and placing them into the right categories, as well as students who continuously confused the parts of speech. One student placed several adjectives in his nouns category, along with nouns. I was able to remind him of the difference and he realized that words like rough and hard are describing words not a person, place, or thing. For this reason, I was able to informally observe students understanding of parts of speech. Also, in regards to science I was able to see students understanding of an ecosystem. Some students only placed animals in their noun category. This means that they need a review of the nonliving as well plant aspect of ecosystems. The assessment data that I collected was informal, and I would not use this as a grade. Everyone was able to complete their poem, and for me, a project like this is a completion grade rather than a letter grade. With that being said I think that this was a successful lesson because it gave me informal assessment in both English and science that I could then use as the teacher to develop follow-up lessons based on the students needs.
B. How did your actual lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes you made and explain why you made them. Be thorough and specific in your description.

My actual lesson followed my lesson plan fairly closely in almost all regards except for time and the individual aspect of the assignment. When talking with my teacher, and writing the example poem I provided, I found that this project would be better completed in pairs or groups rather than on the individual level in which I originally planned. This was especially the case because it was administered the day after thanksgiving break, when students were still transitioning back into the swing of things. However, I did not require that this poem be written with a group. My directions were that every student needed to brainstorm some ideas and then they could choose to write their poem alone based on those ideas, join with a partner at their table to combine ideas, or work with their entire team of four. Some students did still choose to work independently. I think this change was beneficial because some students did need the extra support of working with another student, while others prefer to work solely with themselves. The other noteworthy change I made was that rather than finishing this in one thirty minute class period, it took us two. The brainstorming took much longer than I had anticipated because many students could not generate as many words as I would have hoped. To combat this problem I continuously circled the room helping them to think

of new words by asking questions, such as Ok we need an action word ending in ing. I see that you have monkey in your noun section, what do monkeys do, how do they move?
C. Based on this experience, what changes would you make if you were to present this activity again? Why? Cite at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better or more thorough way.

I do not think there is much from this lesson I would change; I think it went well. In addition, I think that I already utilized multiple developmentally appropriate practices such as encouraging, providing feedback during the process, modeling, asking questions, giving assistance, and giving directions. I was clear on what their poem should look like and provided them with both a template and two example poems. I also helped organize their brainstorming with a handout. I think one area in which my developmentally appropriate practice could be improved would be in challenging some students. I think most students enjoyed this activity, however, it did not provide a challenge for everyone. I think I could do this in my own classroom by providing reading materials about the ecosystems showcased. Students could research and include a fact or two at the end of their poem. The reading material I provide can be differentiated based on reading levels providing all students access to information regarding the ecosystems while maintaining an appropriate challenge level.
D. What did you learn from this experience about children, teaching, and yourself? Identify things you learned about children as a result of planning and conducting this activity.

I learned that students will respond to different aspects of a lesson. On the first day one group of boys was seemingly never on task when I approached them and helping them get their final words was like pulling teeth. However the next day, they finished their poem and started decorating. They drew a picture of a rainforest that included all sorts of animals. They started asking me questions about the animals that lived in the rainforest, whether bananas grew on trees or vines, and what other stuff they should draw. They were very into this part of the lesson and were making valuable connections during this decorating process. They now had a frame of mind for everything an ecosystem entailed (the vines, grass, insects, birds, large animals, soil, sun, and rain that they drew made up one ecosystem it was everything living and nonliving). When planning lessons I hope to include multiple activities in one lesson such as writing and drawing. This gives students multiple chances to engage with the material.
Identify two things you learned about teaching as a result of planning and conducting this activity. Describe how you will apply this new knowledge to upcoming opportunities for developing learning experiences for children.

I learned that as a teacher flexibility is key. Even though I planned this lesson to be completed in a day, both me and my cooperating teacher were flexible and gave the students two days to complete it. I will always keep this in mind when teaching. It is ok for lessons to run short or long. Also, I learned that informal assessments can be very powerful. Teachers often get preoccupied with grades, but some days a lesson just needs to be a fun activity for the kids and an informal way for the teacher to see where they are in their understanding. I hope to include informal observations in each of the subjects I teach on a weekly basis. This will serve to take some of the emphasis off of grades, and put an emphasis on the process, while also giving me time to see what kids really understand outside of a test format.
Identify one thing you learned about yourself as a result of planning and conducting this activity.

I have learned that I can find ways to stay away from worksheets. This lesson gave students a chance to think about what makes up an ecosystems without simply answering questions about what an ecosystem is and what it is made up of.